Decorate a Notebook

You could get very fancy and make the notebook itself. I used a small composition book (they were four for a dollar or something), and for this one, I cut apart a small picture book that had mostly already been destroyed by a stream of toddlers who colored in it, tore a page or two, and just loved it entirely to death. I made it a few years ago for a very dear friend who loves giraffes.

You can laminate it when you are done, and this would be better. You can also carefully paint all over it with a small paintbrush dipped in regular glue, using even strokes, and let it dry and it will have a hard, shiny finish.

Front:

Back:

I taped those words from the picture book because my friend was a La Leche League Leader for years and though she is a grandmother now she is still a wise and knowledgeable source of information about all kinds of things, including breastfeeding, pregnancy, childbirth, and loving your children. She is a gem. If you are jealous, I am sorry, but you are right, she is the kind of friend you should have in your life.

I’ve posted pictures of another notebook that one of my daughters made for one of my other daughters- she pays more attention to detail and is more artistic than I am. That one has pictures of old books and Shakespeare stuff collected from advertisements from some educational catalog I received. You can use pretty much anything that matches the interests of your recipient (or you).

You can also make it really personal and use your best writing (or calligraphy) to write a line on a few pages- a Bible verse, a line of poetry about friendship (or giraffes), a quote that is meaningful to your friendship, that honors the person your friend is.

It’s a very inexpensive gift in terms of monetary outlay- you need a cheap composition notebook, some glue, some source for pictures, and probably scissors, although you could give it a fun look by carefully tearing around the edges. You can also get fancier and make a hole in the center of both covers and attach a ribbon or band to use to keep the book closed when not in use.